SPIRAL (2019)

 

(Director: Kurtis David Harder. Screenwriters: Colin Minihan and John Poliquin.)

Storyline

A homosexual couple, who’ve moved to a beautiful, small town, witness an odd party thrown by their neighbors, and wonder if they and their daughter are in danger.

 

Review

SPIRAL is solid, slow-build suspense film. For the most part, this Shudder Original movie kept me riveted with its use of open landscape shots, spooky interior shots, and Avery Kentis’s shred-your-nerves score─these elements further imbue it with a sense of isolation and unease. Throw in creepy neighbors whose behavior may not reflect their intentions, and an ending that wraps up the movie while cleverly progressing the story (with no need for a sequel), and you’ve got a small-but-worthwhile film with credibility to burn.

I like how screenwriters Colin Minihan and John Poliquin weave character-inherent themes of homophobia, racism and PTSD into the mix. Malik’s inability to reconcile a long-ago hate crime intensifies and distorts the motivations of his sometimes-dumb actions, as he investigates the town’s past and its nice-but-unsettling denizens.

SPIRAL, often predictable, runs a little long in its last quarter, briefly devolving into hazy events and images that may or may not be Malik losing his mind. I get why some of these scenes are there, but a few of the said elements just pad out the film. That said, it’s still an atmospheric, well-executed flick.